S=_—SSSSS= SSS a —- Be or ——— SSS eee + eee ae pom oe = == oe Ss SSS =e = Zs — <<<ACKNOWLEDGMENTS, To Lamy Duke, a superb artist and graphic designer, who did the illustrations. To Leslie Wolcott Meyer of The Electronic Page, who created and refined the pattern drafts and graphs. To Dale Kistemaker, whose photographic expertise, advice, and care~ ful work was invaluable. With the exception of those supplied by museums, he developed and printed most of the photographs. To Jose Gaspar Vibal for his good cheer, and for the many hours he spent threading cards and working on samples. | would like to thank San Franeiseo State University fora grant that underwrote the cost of photographs, illustrations, and graphs, and to my colleagues for their intellectual support. To the many people who contributed information, photographs, and advice, including Helen Durbin, Helen Pope, Donna Armstrong, Anne Blinks, Lillian Elliott, Gail Manners, Kay Sekimachi, Jackie Wollenberg, Ron Meyer, Nancy Harvey, Peter Collingwood, and Noemi Speiser. My students were enthusiastic supporters of the project and contributed to the publication, particularly the instructional part, in many ways. More than anything else, they kept me sane and alive, To Interweave Press and Deborah Robson, who responded immedi- ately and enthusiastically to this publication. 1 am most grateful to the following institutions for making their collections available for research and reproduction: University Museum of National Antiquities, Oslo; Liverpool Museum, Liverpool; Museum of Ethnology, Hamburg; National Museum, Denmark, Smithsonian Institu- tion, Washington, D.C; the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; the Leicestershire Museums, Leicester, England, Stadtische Kunstsamm- lunge, Augsburg, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto; Historical Museum, Bem; Cora Ginsberg Collection, New York, My special thanks go to Theodore Kroeber, who encouraged and supported this project, was helpful in every aspect of the manuscript preparation, and who showed great patience All weavings and photographs are by the author unless otherwise notedCONTENTS 1. A HISTORY OF CARD WEAVING. Card Weaving: An Explanation Patterns in Card Weaving, The Origins and Distribution of Card Weaving, ‘Traditional Tools and Materials, Card Weaving in Ancient Egypt. Card Weaving in Scandinavia Card Weaving in Medieval Europe, The Rediscovery of Card Weaving Card Weaving in Asia and the Middle East. suees Card Weaving Today. 2. TOOLS AND MATERIALS. 3, THE BASIC TECHNIQUE, SampleBandA ee List of Materials. ee The Pattern Draft Threading Direction. Colors, ‘Warping Instructions Numbering the Cards, Se ‘Threading the Cards. ee Combing the Warp Threads The Weft Thread Securing the Warp. Turning the Cards. wren a ¥ Weaving 0 ee Warp Twist. Shifting the Weaving. Starting a New Weft Thread, Repairing a Broken Warp Thread, Pattern Variations... Controlling the Weft Thread Finishing ‘ Problems and Mistakes in Weaving 4, PATTERN DRAFTING AND DESIGNING. Defining the Space. Designing the Pattern, Selecting Colors ‘Threading the Cards, Altemate Threading... Sample Band B—Altemately Threaded Borders 10 10 aL 12 A 18 19 20 25Flongating Design Elements. 2... 2 1. - 63 Thick and Thin Yams... pep aeegs Variations. 65 S.PATTERN DRAFTS. 2 ose se ee ee ST 6, DARK AND LIGHT PATTERNING. . . 2... - 83 ‘Sample Band C. B4 Pattern #1—Horizontal Stripes. 86 Pattern #2—Diagonal Stripes... 2 2. BT Pattern #3—Chevrons, 88 Pattern #4—Double-Faced Weave. 2 2 2. ss SM Pattern #5—Double Weave. aarruay - 96 Pattern #6—Broad Diagonals, 8 In Conclusion 102 7. STRUCTURAL TECHNIQUES. 5. 0. 2. 1B Shifting Cards. 60a. sun ae ea ema dl 104 Decreasing and Increasing Warp Threads. - 106 Varying the Warp Threads 107 Supplemental Wes M08. ‘Tubular Weaving. 110 Slits and Loops 14 Curves and Angles 65... kw aH NS 8. FINISHING. 119 Twisting the Frings 6. - 120 Wrapping 2... Feed 120 Four-Strand Braiding. saan» WD “Tying the HalEKnot and the Square Knot... I Making Tassels. 125, Sewing Strips Together. 126 9. EXPANDING CARD WEAVING, 5.0. 0. 2 2s. 129 Tension Control 130 Working between Dowels 2... 2 130 ‘Tension Knot 131 Using a Loom for Tension... mma a ow OD Free-Form or Oper-Ended Card Weaving... . 135 Warp Twisting 2. ee ed 136 Cards in Combination with Loom Weaving. 137 Conclusion. . Se . nee - 138 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY. . 2. 2... 1 2 ss 139 SUPPLIERS. 140 INDEX eee ee ed 14I+]. A sxtentieceniry French tapestry in Rheims Cathedral, showing a card weaving in progress with sicoled cane sirang beoveen wo columns. (Courtesy of the Board of Trust ees of the Victoria and Albert Museum, Lon don No. $9482) A History of Card Weaving |ARD WEAVING IS an ancient craft in which simple cards, or flat tablets, form the "loom". Yams are threaded through holes in a set of cards or flat tablets. These cards are rotated to create patterns in the weaving. Card weaving has traditionally been used for making strong, narrow, decorative bands. In China, card weaving was used to make reins, bridles, and saddle girths. Nomadic tribes in Turkey used long card-woven bands to tie, suspend, and attach a variety of items, In1-2. A card weaver near Kutls, Cowcasus (USSR), afer a shetch done by M. Barteb in 1897. The weaver, working ona circular warp mores the warp around as the weaving pro- _gresses, Tension is maintained by the pegs and the weavers knee. A comb spaces the warp threads and helps maimain the width of the weaving northern Afica, card weavers in local markets wove valuables into belts, ‘The monks of Burma wore card-woven girdles that were red on one side and yellow on the other. In Bulgaria, the traditional peasant costume includes a card-woven sash 20 to 27 feet long in bold pattems that wraps several times around the waist. In Yugoslavia, woolen card-woven bands with long fringes were used to trim aprons. In Greece, the red garters of the national costume were card woven. Bands with inscriptions were used as love tokens in Iceland and Persia. Almost without exception, the bands fiom the past were narrow, strong, and decorative Card weaving developed and continues to exist in widely scattered parts ofthe world, It has remained basically unchanged over two thousand years, is easy to learn, and requires little equipment. Nonetheless, it is a sophisticated craft capable of producing complex weaves and woven struc- 13, Ated, whe, blue, and black camel strap rom Twhey in tightly ised woo! yarn. Dyed, mspur goathair tassels are anached 10 the Fringe with fow-sirand braids. Trentezh con- fury. (Author's collection)tures unachievable with any other technique. The simplicity and the relative ease of working with the cards, the complexity and variety of patterns, the full texture and beauty ofthe woven fabric, and its rich history all make card weaving a uniquely rewarding and gratifying activity. Today, as in the past, people who love intricacy in pattern and structure are drawn to card weaving. CARD WEAVING: AN EXPLANATION In loom weaving, the longitudinal threads, or warp, pass through harnesses that alternately raise and lower them in fixed sequences, forming a shed, or space, through which to pass the wefi thread. In card weaving, the shed is created by turning or rotating the cards, usually as a unit. The cards ean be ‘any shape or size, but today most are square, about 4 inches by 4 inches, with a hole in each comer. Once the cards are threaded, with the warp threads passed through the card holes and anchored for tension at each cend, the "loom' is ready. (This process is described in detail in Chapter 3.) At any point during weaving, cards can be individually turned to put warp threads in different relationships. Card weaving produces a warp-faced fabric. The threads that are visible in the completed weaving are the warp (longitudinal) threads that ‘wete originally threaded through the card holes. The weft thread simply ‘binds the warp threads in place and is hidden in the weaving. Each rotation, or turn, ofthe cards brings new warp threads to the surface and forms a new shed through which the weft will pass The threads that go through the holes in each card twist around each other as the cards are rotated. This spiraling of the warp threads is charac- teristic of and unique to—card weaving. It forms an important element of the technique, relating it directly to braiding and cordmaking (just as the use of the welt thread and shedding mechanism relate it to loom ‘weaving). The direction in which the warp threads twist, to the right or to the left, is determined by the way individual cards are threaded and by the direction the cards are turned, Much of the unique beauty of card weaving is the result of these twists in the structure of the fabric. ‘When scholars study ancient textiles, they look for three elements as evidence of card weaving: (1) the presence of cards, (2) warp twisting in the fabric, and (3) reversal lines which happen on both surfaces ofthe fabric ‘when the direction in which the cards were turned changes PATTERNS IN CARD WEAVING Card weaving is capable of producing an infinite variety of complex patterns, An amazing amount of change and complexity is possible within a single band. Patterns can be predetermined by plotting them on a grid indicating the arrangement of color, right or left threading, and the turning sequence (explained in Chapters 4 and 5). Once weaving begins, the ‘weaver can create new textures and new patterns by simply shifting the positions of individual eards or by changing the turning sequence. The modem card weaver can create new designs, or use traditional patterns that